What does CDC’s Santa Barbara Fiesta mask notice mean?

Behind last Tuesday’s federal notice that everyone wears masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, is a plethora of COVID cases in Provincetown on Cape Cod, where those vaccinated were close to all three. quarters of an epidemic of infections since July 4. The startling news upset current thinking about COVID – that vaccines were less likely to infect others – leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to rush to publish the advisory without further studies. The most infectious Delta variant was found in 90% of the sequenced cases, which has health and safety implications, including for the celebration of the Fiesta de Santa Barbara which is due to begin on August 4.

At the end of last week, the CDC provided additional information on its decision, reporting that of 469 positive people in Provincetown, 346 had been fully vaccinated. What was new was that nasal swab tests told them that vaccinated and unvaccinated people had roughly equal amounts of the virus in their nasal passages. In other words, even those vaccinated in this group could spread the virus by coughing, sneezing, or just breathing.

The information behind the mask advisory, while alarming, comes with many caveats. While the report is critically important, said Dr Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease specialist at Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital, it was an observational report, a report on what had happened. past and not from a randomized controlled trial. “It’s important to use information,” she observed, “but also to know its limits.

County health official Dr Henning Ansorg agreed, pointing to the section of the CDC report that said: “The data in this report is insufficient to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against SARS- CoV-2, including the Delta Variant, during this outbreak. He issued an advisory on July 30 to wear a mask in all indoor spaces outside the house, stay home if he is sick even if he is vaccinated, avoid overcrowded events and get vaccinated.

CAP COD INVESTIGATION

For the general public, new to the digitization of COVID medical reports, Cape Cod is one example. The data needs a context, which has not yet been collected, such as: the number of people vaccinated on Cape Cod – the Patriot of the stable reported that an “overwhelming majority of Provincetown residents have been vaccinated” – potentially underreported asymptomatic cases, and that large public gatherings between July 3 and July 17 were marketed to adult males – 85 percent of cases were males, median age of 42.

Cape Cod is an idyllic sandy peninsula that curves into the Atlantic Ocean with Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Islands to the south. Its population of 3,000 increases to 60,000 during the summer months, crowding the narrow stretch to such an extent that bicycles are the most reliable form of transportation. Just like any tourist town, it offers vernissages, opera and theater events, beer festivals and, with its legendary maritime history, whale watching tours and the Wellfleet OysterFest sponsored by the Shellfish Promotion and Tasting nonprofit, which canceled the event this year. The editorial page of the Cape Cod Hours reflects residents concerned about a runaway real estate market, rude and unruly customers, preschool grants and their public library. Almost half of those infected were residents of Cape Cod. the Patriot reported 833 cases at the end of the month, including 33 at a nursing home in West Yarmouth. the Provincetown Independent reported that an indoor mask warrant was imposed on July 25 after a cluster of 171 cases were identified in town, linked to 223 others in Massachusetts and 157 out of state.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health cited “densely packed indoor and outdoor events at venues including bars, restaurants, guest houses and rental homes” as reported by those affected. The case rate on July 3 was zero cases on average over the past 14 days; on July 17, there were 177 cases per 100,000 people. The Delta variant was found in 90 percent of the 133 sequences performed. Five people were in the hospital, four of whom were fully vaccinated. No deaths have been reported, although an end result usually takes several weeks to reach finality. The most common symptoms were cough, headache, sore throat, muscle pain or weakness and fever, appearing between six and 178 days after the end of the final vaccination period.

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SITUATION OF SANTA BARBARA

Since July 4, Santa Barbara has seen a spike in the infection rate that would drop the county back into the purple category, if the rainbow of categories were still in effect. The number as of July 20 was 10.1 newly diagnosed people per 100,000 population; of this quotient, 2.1 were vaccinated and 15.3 were not vaccinated. On Monday afternoon, the county’s latest public health report said an additional 39 people have been infected with COVID since Friday. This brings the total number of active cases to 442 and the total number of deaths to 463. Perhaps more dramatically, there are now 33 COVID patients recovering in one of the county hospitals. That’s an increase of 10 from this weekend. Monday’s California Public Health report said more than 10,000 daily cases were reported between Friday and Sunday. The number last weekend was 7,000.

Downtown Santa Barbara is scheduled to host Thursday August 5, the first since the pandemic shut everything down. Last week, the Sullivan Goss Art Gallery told organizers it would remain closed. “If we’re honest about putting community safety first, a decision is really obvious,” said Nathan Vonk, who took over the famous gallery in 2016. The exhibit reportedly featured Nicole Strasburg, and Vonk said about his decision-making process. , “I had thought of the masks, not the wine service. … I am only a gallery owner. I rely on people who have made their careers in public health to make these decisions. But he read the news and looked at the county health portal daily. “As much as I would love to have everyone here, no matter how good for my business, there is no morally justifiable way to do it.” As always, the gallery remains open seven days a week, with only a few visitors at a time, and masks are on hand at the door.

The city of Guadalupe has just canceled plans to celebrate its 75th birthday on August 8 after public health intervention. “[I]It would be best to cancel so that vendors, attendees, representatives etc. who were to attend the celebration are not delayed in their future planning, ”city administrator Todd Boden said in a statement. Press. According to the latest information from the CDC, based on its investigation in Provincetown, recommendations were made to events and health departments to consider limited capacity at rallies or postponing the event.

The big party behind the scenes is the celebration of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta, which took a hiatus from in-person events last year due to the pandemic. This year, organizers have scheduled dance performances at the Old Mission on August 4 and at the courthouse through August 7. She said they plan to continue with all health protocols in place, “unless something drastic happens”, suggesting that participants and viewers wear masks and stay six feet away for distancing social. It should be noted that many dancers, who have worked hard all year on their performance, are younger than the age allowed for vaccinations.

Petlow said the Fiesta committee was in close contact with county health officials last week and based its decision to cancel the De la Guerra Plaza Mercado on their advice. “The health and safety of our community comes first,” said Petlow, recalling the number of people flooding the plaza for food stalls and entertainment.

De la Guerra Plaza is also home to the Town Hall, where Mayor Cathy Murillo said she supports Old Spanish Days’ decision to cancel the mercado right outside their doors and urge people to wear face masks. . “People were side by side in the mercado,” she recalls, “and they took off their masks to eat and drink. Murillo said she wore a mask wherever she went, not only to set an example, but to protect herself. The mayor’s inbox was not full of emails asking for the Fiesta to be canceled, she said, although people in person complained about the loss of the party all over town this past. year again.

The Delta variant continues to surprise health officials, recently dropping from 400,000 cases per day in May in India – where it was first identified – to 40,000 in July with little understanding of what caused it. . It’s certainly more contagious than other variants – as serious as chickenpox – and reports are emerging that show a trend towards more hospitalizations, Dr Fitzgibbons said. That people are able to respond so quickly to the development of the pandemic may be all that stands between us and a virus beast.

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